The Roadrunners

Memories of: Hamburg

The following is translated from a German newspaper article and includes a contribution from Frank Dostal of the Rattles. It gives a flavour of the early 60s scene in
Germany, but reflects many of the things which were also happening
in Liverpool at the time.

It all began at the end of 1959 with the Kaiserkeller, when Bruno
Koschmider opened Hamburg's first rock & roll club on the corner of
Grosse Freiheit and Schmuckstrasse in the St Pauli district. Side by
side with strip joints and rip-off bars, suddenly young English guys
in leather jackets were standing on stage, guitars thundering, as
they bellowed hot declarations of love for Lucille, Carol, Peggy Sue
and Miss Molly through their 30-watt amps.

For the youth of the time - the "Teddy Boys" - this club was a
revelation. There had been no rock music in Germany since Bill
Haley's first tour in 1956 which saw wild street battles between
fans and baton-wielding, tear-gas-throwing police. A huge press
campaign had made sure that this music was almost completely
suppressed. "No more of this crazy, unholy racket which doesn't
deserve to be called a concert!" demanded one reader of the
newspaper "Bild" after the Haley riots. And so it was.

What was left was anaemic imitators who watered down and
"Germanised" the US rock originals until there was nothing left of
them. Or else they had their songs written by the German popular hit
makers so that it wasn't rock & roll any more but "teenager music".

Apart from that, there was only jazz. Chris Barber and Max Collie
were the kings - Tiger Rag and Down By The Riverside their anthems,
ringing out on every corner from jazz clubs, cellars and bars.

Rock music almost disappeared from the scene. Only a few records
by Elvis, Bill Haley and Cliff Richard were officially available. Eddie
Cochran or Chuck Berry fans had to go to the time and trouble of
importing their singles. There was only one ray of light - the Brtish
Forces Broadcasting Service and Chris Howland with his "Saturday
Club" broadcast on WDR.

Against this background, the Kaiserkeller opened and became the
first club in Germany to present regular live rock music.

So it was until the beginning of ེ. Tony Sheridan became a big name
locally, had his first hit with Skinny Minny, and in July ཹ recorded
eight tracks with the Beatles who were also booked with him at the
Top Ten and occasionally backed him on stage. New groups came to
take up residencies of several weeks, including Gerry and The
Pacemakers and other Liverpool bands.

Nevertheless, things were in something of a rut. True, the clubs
were now presenting live rock music. But the real stars, who were
known from their records and the radio, didn't appear. There were
only more-or-less unknown bands who played other people's hits.
Even the Beatles were no exception. People could only dream of the
greats - Elvis, Gene Vincent or Jerry Lee Lewis. In any case, the
clubs didn't have the right facilities to bring rock music to a wider
public.

With the exception of the Top Ten, all the clubs were very small.
They also adopted the format favoured by the dance-cafes and
usually only one band would play all week. The Star Club's time had
come.

One morning, the St Pauli
district was plastered wih
orange posters. "Your need is
at an end! The age of
bumpkin-music is over"
announced the large letters.
Then: "On Friday, 13th April,
the Star Club presents the
Rock 'n Twist Parade 1962".

In 1962, rock music was still
an underground sub-culture,
the sound of a radical minority.
Even in St Pauli, where
arguments were settled with
fists and knives, the
announcement shocked many of
the youths, and their parents
much more so. But a parental
"No" usually has the opposite
effect and, in the end,
everyone came.

One of them was Frank Dostal, who at that time never dreamed that
he would one day stand on the Star Club stage as singer with The
Rattles.

"I went there for the first time about six months after it opened.
Previously I'd only been in the Top Ten Club a few times. I'd heard
that the Star Club was for rockers only and, as the rockers had a
reputation for violence, I didn't go. But that all changed when I heard
that the Beatles were playing there again, and I decided to chance it.
It was magic. What passed for entertainment at that time was either
crooners on the television or else jazz. But here were people on
stage with whom I could identify - playing music which I'd only heard
on records before. That really clicked with me. From then on, I went
to the Star Club twice a week.

"In the eyes of my mother and other relatives, it was really
dangerous to go to St Pauli so often. But actually it was cool
because people could see you were going to the Star Club so they
didn't try anything. You didn't wear a leather jacket or anything like
that in the Star Club. Everyone wore suit, collar and tie. Anyone who
wore cowboy boots as well was really progressive.

"Right from the start the Star Club was a form of counter-culture,
even if we didn't realise it. The normal rules of society didn't apply."

The only problem was for those who weren't yet 18. Officially, you
could go in if you were 16, but a few younger ones who either dusted
off their confirmation suits or put on "lipstick, powder and paint" did
manage to sneak through. But, at ten to eleven, when the star band
had finished their first set, the loudspeakers announced the moment
of truth to those guests who had contrived to look a couple of years
older: "Ladies and gentlemen, in a few minutes it will be 11 o'clock.
All those under eighteen years of age must leave the club. Please
obey the instructions of the personnel. In ten minutes we will resume
with..."

Soon there were almost a million visitors a year. When young people
came to Hamburg, their first excursion was to the Star Club. Several
even came from England, France or Scandinavia just to spend a few
nights in this famed club on the Grosse Freiheit. Desperate parents
wrote or 'phoned to ask whether their prodigal sons or missing
daughters had been spotted. The longer the hair of the men, the more
they pushed themselves towards that stage with the backdrop of the
Manhattan skyline. Many of them came for years and spent their
youth here experiencing the fascination of the dimly-lit hall and the
bands who never stopped rocking. Here was everything for which
they hungered - united in the sound which belonged only to them. The
Star Club was a small taste of freedom in a hostile world which was
governed by the laws and prohibitions of "The Authorities" - those
who fought and wanted to suppress everything which was fun. Things
like rock and beat music, sex, long hair and even being young itself.

But the Star Club was where real life was lived.

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